Northern State calls for "More Cowbell"

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The first EP (second EP too) was a great record, period.

Re the "worst thing ever" thing:

Is everybody who writes for Pitchfork this stupid????

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:35 (nineteen years ago) link

i have the last post on that thread:

Ha Ha! This thread was great. It should be bronzed. I liked the Northern State e.p. I thought it was really funny.

-- scott seward (skotro...), April 5th, 2004.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:37 (nineteen years ago) link

see how consistent i am.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:38 (nineteen years ago) link

indie pop thing directed to har mar superstar (and "gravy train" et al)

i have never knowingly heard northern state but i suspect i'd hate them

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:38 (nineteen years ago) link

unless yer like me and you just hate them cuz you've never heard them but you've heard so much about them.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:42 (nineteen years ago) link

That's almost about how I feel about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at this point (though I suspect I'll like them anyway).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Gravy Train!!! aren't bad at all (esp. the parts that sound exactly like Debbie Deb.) And they're not indie-rock; they're B-52s-style new wave fag-hag dance music. (Jess is OTM about Har Mar, though.)

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:42 (nineteen years ago) link

(You all know nothing about cowbells.)

― Rockist_Scientist (rockist_scientist), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:45 (nineteen years ago) link

you aren't missing anything, ned.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:45 (nineteen years ago) link

"(You all know nothing about cowbells.)"

i know 'em when i see 'em.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:46 (nineteen years ago) link

you aren't missing anything, ned.

No, both Dan and Spencer like them, as does good friend Stripey, so for me that's usually a good sign. (If all I get is a half-hearted Banshees revival with a worse drummer, though...)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:49 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, Scott's right -- I mean, Yeah Yeah Yeahs are, what, the 300th or 400th best band to come out on an indie label in the last couple years? And they made the same record twice, except the second time it wasn't anywhere near as good as the first time (though oh yeah, it had a ballad on it apparently.) They sort of sound like the early Pretenders with worse songwriting, more or less. (Except not as bad as when PJ Harvey sounds like the early Pretenders with worse songwriting, which is at least better than when she makes "cabaret records," yuck.) So definitely nothing to lose sleep over.

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Heheh. I'll keep all this in mind. (And Chuck, I will actually honest to god have a proper pitch about something to e-mail you in a bit. I think.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:51 (nineteen years ago) link

there is no way 300 or 400 bands on indie labels over the last couple years are better than the early Pretenders with worse songwriting.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:54 (nineteen years ago) link

anthony, do you like sahara hotnights? i can't remember. they have better songs than YYY's.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:56 (nineteen years ago) link

by the way the stooges were the Rolling Stones with worse songwriting

what I think of the Sahara Hotnights and the fuck they have better songs than the YYYs.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:58 (nineteen years ago) link

by the way the stooges were the Rolling Stones with worse songwriting

Well yeah, that's why the Stooges were so great.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:59 (nineteen years ago) link

MY POINT

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 21:59 (nineteen years ago) link

Then we're all happy!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:00 (nineteen years ago) link

the best sahara hotnights songs are basically the half of the songs on a go-go's comp nobody remembers. good but not comparable to gonzo pretenders.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:02 (nineteen years ago) link

though their cover of "Rockaway Beach" is the foxiest thing I've heard all year and reaffirms they shouldn't be writing their own lyrics.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:03 (nineteen years ago) link

chuck sort of reads like early lester bangs with worse ideas, more or less.

I mean COME ON, the YYYs guitars sound *nothing* like the Pretenders.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:03 (nineteen years ago) link

they're "worse"

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:05 (nineteen years ago) link

wow, i must be psi-kik. here i bring up sahara hotnight's songwriting and here you address their songwriting in a very well-written and cogent review of sahara hotnights. it's like syncronicity or something. i'd still rather listen to sahara hotnights though. and i don't even really listen to sahara hotnights.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:09 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah, but just cuz the YYY's are worse than the pretenders doesn't make them the stooges.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:10 (nineteen years ago) link

no but it implies a precedent in which being "worse" than your influences doesn't necessarily mean you're devoid of value.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:17 (nineteen years ago) link

but thanks for the complimentary adjectives about my review!

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Oh sure, anthony. and your premise is sound. i'm a much bigger paul revere & the raiders fan than i am a stones fan.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:22 (nineteen years ago) link

http://www.metageek.com/archives/2004_05.html

― Ian c=====8 (orion), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:23 (nineteen years ago) link

oh man YOU are psychic! I've been bringing up Paul Revere & The Raiders on all the Franz Ferdinandy nu-wave threads (basically I like any band that I can imagine being Paul Revere & The Raiders)! Though I do like the Stones more.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:24 (nineteen years ago) link

Except the Pretenders weren't even all that great in the first place.
(And of course you can sound like a band without every one of your instruments sounding exactly like every one of their instruments.)
Plus the Stooges sounded more like the Doors or Sonics or Animals with *better songwriting (except when it was worse), I mean come on.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are okay, though. I actually have still yet to get rid of either of their records. (I *wish* I liked Sahara Hotnights more -- they're definitely cuter, for one thing -- but I just like Les Baton Rouge more instead.)

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:28 (nineteen years ago) link

And Paul Revere and the Raiders were even better than the Yeah Yeah Yeahs when they didn't have Paul Revere anymore!

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:29 (nineteen years ago) link

I *wish* I liked Les Baton Rouge more but there's something kinda prog-metal (at least in a relative sense) about the way their songs progress.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:33 (nineteen years ago) link

but I do like 'em

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:35 (nineteen years ago) link

But me and Scott LIKE prog-metal, Anthony! And so should you!!! (And OF COURSE they sound prog-metal, they're from frigging Portugal or someplace, right??)(Though I think their particular prog-metal has more Essential Logic than Moonspell in it.)

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:36 (nineteen years ago) link

haha Scott sent me this metal mixtape a while back and when I played it for a friend he got more serious than I ever saw him in his life, put his hand on my shoulder and said something like, "Anthony, it's really nice of your friend to make you this tape, but the portrait he's giving you of metal is not the real one. This is silly and fun, yes, but this isn't the REAL thing."

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:38 (nineteen years ago) link

this kinda reaffirms for me that the YYYs aren't pop enough or ultra-sloppy-gonzo enough for you two'ses tastes. They're too MOR.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:39 (nineteen years ago) link

lest that anecdote imply he's a sourpuss, the guy is a big fan of the Stones, ABBA, PiL, Napalm Death and Weird Al.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:42 (nineteen years ago) link

I found it odd cuz a lot of the stuff on that mixtape reminded me of ABBA.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:43 (nineteen years ago) link

But me and Scott LIKE silly and fun metal better than real metal (which is actually way sillier than the kind we like)! And so should you!!

xpost

Yeah, I wish the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were weirder; they seem kind of *average* somehow. Especially "Maps" (that's the ballad, right?), which I don't get at all; it really sounds pedestrian to me, and not particularly pretty or catchy either.

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:43 (nineteen years ago) link

I am listening to Leather Hyman right now (thanks to chuck) and i like their record a lot more than the YYY's record. i dunno, i don't hate the YYY's they just didn't hit me in that now/wow/new wave way that a flashy debut by snotty up and comers should hit me for me to love them. i did love that -it's our time now to be hated- line when i first heard it on a mojo comp. the rest of their album didn't hit that peak for me. they make me wish i owned a copy of betty serveert's debut for some reason. which is an accomplishment is suppose.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:44 (nineteen years ago) link

And Karen O's shtick strikes me as really limited, too (which wouldn't bother me too much, I guess, if I liked the shtick more.) (They *do* have some decent guitar parts, though. I just have to listen harder to hear them than I usually have the patience for.)

xpost

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:45 (nineteen years ago) link

If I was listening to a million kajillion albums from a million kajillion genres a day for as long as you guys have I'd probably feel the same way, but from my context, the YYYs are damn catchy for college shit and more spazzoid than what gets on the radio.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:46 (nineteen years ago) link

The "it's our time to be hated" line is great; so is the "do it to each other like a sister and a brother" line. Beyond that, the pickings get pretty slim, if you ask me.

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:46 (nineteen years ago) link

i do really like mean nasty ugly metal too though. that's the diff between me and chuck. although i guess part of me does see the humor in that stuff too.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:47 (nineteen years ago) link

A lot of the stuff I like these days isn't necessarily "now/wow/new wave" as much as "essence distilled" with a distinct personality.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:48 (nineteen years ago) link

i mean, amon amarth are one of my fave metal bands, but part of me does love the fact that they are a VIKING death metal band.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:48 (nineteen years ago) link

>damn catchy for college shit and more spazzoid than what gets on the radio.<

I agree with this. (Than the *rock* that gets on the radio, anyway.)

And yeah, Scott likes more "real" metal than I do, probably -- stuff that strikes me as gratuitiously ugly and not sad or beautiful or rock'n'rolling enough. (Though he is right about that Das Oath CD!) (Though I think he calls them "punk," so maybe they don't count.)

― chuck, Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:50 (nineteen years ago) link

anthony, i definitely think if i were 20 or 21 that the YYY's would be on my hit parade for sure. there is something to the "jaded" argument. although i'm still blown away by new stuff all the time, so it is only part of the argument.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:50 (nineteen years ago) link

doesn't that Das Oath album make you wanna jump around the room!!! I love that thing.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:51 (nineteen years ago) link

Skipping 17 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I feel ya scott. I put on the new Ghostface and this dude I know said "rap has really fallen a long way since de la soul" and I got this serious intense look in my eyes like I imagine CeCe's friend had and said "Dude, this is Ghostface. What the fuck are you on about?" and he looked sorta freaked out.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 August 2004 02:59 (nineteen years ago) link

"Maps" love is easily explained:

Bombastic drums + open fifths + arpeggio-heavy melody = HEAVEN.

It is missing a verse but hey put that fantastic false instrumental verse in there instead.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 27 August 2004 03:06 (nineteen years ago) link

I like "Maps" a lot, but part of my ectasy over the new "Y Control" video is based on the fact that I don't want people to think that song sums up the YYYs.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 27 August 2004 03:16 (nineteen years ago) link

btw I would like to amend my YYYs description to "foxy noise pop-rock" lest people who bothered to read my AC Newman review point out that I used pop as a noun rather than a prefix.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 27 August 2004 03:18 (nineteen years ago) link

I actually did see the video but to the soundtrack of the new Bark Psychosis album. It's a lovely contrast!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 August 2004 04:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Ha, nice try Cece. Too late, the pop-suffix jig is up.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:04 (nineteen years ago) link

hahaha. my second excuse is that while I said that "pop as prefix" is MORE interesting than as noun, I never said that all pop-as-noun was bad.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:12 (nineteen years ago) link

Northern State are unbearable.

I enjoyed the YYY's pretty much and when I heard "Maps" right after the album came out I knew it was going to be big...its got the yearning melody etc. I don't care much for the rest of the record aside from "Y Control" probably for the same reasons Chuck doesn't like the group as a whole - except I think Maps and Y Control are exceptions.

― djdee2005, Friday, 27 August 2004 17:07 (nineteen years ago) link

I wish I liked Sahara Hotnights more, too. My favorite song of theirs is on their debut record and sounds like 80s Heart or romantic UK Lita Ford. ("Quite A Feeling.")

― Je4nne ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Friday, 27 August 2004 18:54 (nineteen years ago) link

As for Northern State, I liked them, thought they were funny ("I'm Italian like my mother, skin that eggplant like no other"), but I'm not dying to hear the new album. I'm just like "meh, I'll get around to it I'm sure."

― Je4nne ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Friday, 27 August 2004 18:58 (nineteen years ago) link

three years pass...

If you got a sweat-suit, and you're dripping with diamonds
Tell me are you a rapper, or a mom from Long Island?

looool

― gabbneb, Thursday, 15 November 2007 20:06 (sixteen years ago) link

six years pass...

Had a weird urge to revisit their music. They are definitely wince-inducing.

― avant-sarsgaard (litel), Sunday, 19 October 2014 03:38 (nine years ago) link

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